The Triangle

Issue date: 10/3/08 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Pete Croteau

Trailing 7-1 against George Mason in its third match at the Snake Farm Classic, just outside Richmond, Va., the club frisbee team was all but ready to pack it in.

Just two points away from sure defeat, the writing was all but on the wall. The team, 2-0 at the time, was about to be perfect no more.

However, defensive captain Kyle "Keg" Golrick was not about to give up. He had one last speech to give.

"[Kyle] told us 'we're in this game,' senior Mike "Betsy" Franklin said. "'we're playing great, but we're not having fun.'

"It was true."

The close-knit group had been through similar situations before. The Dragons were not going to go down without a fight.

And so the comeback began. First one point, then two and then three. All of a sudden the momentum started to swing.

"You could see how GMU collectively all just sunk their heads down together," Franklin said.

Thanks to the heroic defensive efforts of  Golrick, Brian "Velveeta" Aquaviva, Jason "J" Stewart and Mike "Stone" Stone, the Dragons went on to score seven consecutive points and take an 8-7 lead, only to see the game tied and have to go to "universe point," or "next point wins."

After a terrific defensive stand, which allowed its offense to take over at the Patriots goal line, the team punched the clincher in the end zone, taking the thriller 9-8. The Dragons went on to take the Snake Farm Classic trophy, registering an unblemished 5-0 mark in the seven-team tournament, which featured just one day of round-robin matches due to severe rain which cut the two-day event in half.

The team, which also defeated host VCU 9-2, scoring seven unanswered goals en route to victory, competes in various fall tournaments across the east coast in an effort to gear up for the more competitive spring season. The Dragons are looking to get past sectionals and into regionals for the first time in club history. Previously the team had come up just short, falling out of regionals by just one spot in the standings for the past two years.

"That's the goal," Franklin, also the team's head recruiter, said. "That's what I've been playing for my previous three years."

JB Harrington, the club's coach, guaranteed that if the team reached regionals that he would shave his head.

"Let's just say we want him to shave it," Franklin said.

But while the team's long-term goal is to take a run at regionals and beyond, its short-term goal is to steadily acquire new players and expand the club's roster.

Continued...

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